Chennai: Five businessmen who were on their way to the airport were allegedly kidnapped under gunpoint by a gang who posed as police officers near Kathipara on Saturday midnight and relieved them of Rs 16 lakh they were carrying. The gang had blindfolded them and dropped each of them at different points on the outskirts of the city.
The five businessmen were identified as Abdul Aziz (48) of Washermanpe, Mohammed Syed (30) of Ramanathapuram, Sukhoor (32) of Puducherry, Prakash (25) of Thiruvadanai and Nainar Mohammed (32) of Sri Lanka. The five are traders who sell Indian garments in Sri Lanka while bringing back tea and spices to sell here.
On Saturday, they had gathered at a lodge in Triplicane. They were due to leave to Colombo by a 3.20 am flight and had left the lodge around midnight. When their car crossed the Azargana bus stop another SUV intercepted their car. Soon, a team of men got out of the vehicle and held the businessmen at gunpoint. They claimed to be officials from the Narcotics Control Bureau and told them they wanted to interrogate them as they got inputs that they were smuggling drugs.The five of them were blindfolded and escorted in the SUV. The driver of the car informed the owner after a few hours and the police were then alerted. The gang had taken away Rs 16 lakh in US dollars and Euros from the businessmen and their mobile phones and dropped each of them at Tambaram, Perungalathur, Potheri and Chengelpet bypass.The businessmen managed to reach the spot from where they were kidnapped and filed a complaint with the St.Thomas Mount police.
